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Food Chain Radio Show #1207
Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist
Is Food Bullying Bull Speak?
Guest: Michele Payne, Author, Food Bullying: How Not To Buy B.S.
Food is a $5.75 trillion dollar business in which whoever has the strongest argument will likely get the most money.
Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – Food Bullying
Consequent to this competition, sellers use many arguments to get money from buyers.
Let’s take, for example, a gallon of milk, which a big box store might sell for $3, while an upscale natural food store might sell for $8.
The Big Box store’s argument is very simple: Our milk is cheap!
The upscale natural food store’s argument is also simple: Our milk is best!
The question then becomes, how do both stores contend for the dollars with their arguments. One way to get consumers to buy the brand is to bully them. For example, you could tell mothers that $3 milk contains bad chemicals that will harm their children; or you could tell mothers that buying the $8 milk is just a foolish waste of the family’s money.
Given the huge amount of money at stake, food bullying has become pretty much the norm up and down the nation’s food chain. And so today we pause to ask…
Leave a comment below: Which is most likely to get a person to buy a brand: fear or guilt?
Nationally syndicated Food Chain Radio airs live Saturday mornings 9-10AM Pacific.
2 Comments
Fear or Guilt? Seriously?
How about necessity or aspiration/support for different food or business models?
If you are paycheck to paycheck, does anything else matter? Do you really have much choice?
If your food budget has leeway, why do you need a negative motivation?
And even in a natural food store, the buyer might distinguish between brands, based on what is known about each brand’s business model.
Are all natural food stores “upscale”? I have certainly shopped in a range of different types of natural or organic food stores, with different price points and different types and presentations of food choice.
Lot of assumptions packed into this question.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you were able to listen to the show: https://metrofarm.com/assets/podcasts/2019-10-25_1207b.mp3